Rocket wins X-Prize - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Table 5 · 10-04-2004, 01:15 PM

I dunno how many of you follow the whole X-Prize race, but it wsa won today by a rocket built by Burt Rutan ( and funded by Paul Allen of Microsoft and Portland Flames fame ).

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...te_spaceship_17

Bring_Back_Shantz · 10-04-2004, 01:21 PM

Wow, that's freakin' cool. I remember only a year or so ago thinking that it would be a really long time before someone won the X-Prize. Guess all it takes is a really rich guy who wants to be the first at something.

ChipOne · 10-04-2004, 01:33 PM

the cool thing about it is how they plan to fly up 5000+ people over the next 5 years at $200k USD per trip. that's a billion dollars.

why is that cool? because infusing a billion dolllars into a 20 million dollar venture will bring the overall price down so that it is more affordable to average joes.

i'm thinking that within 20 years many of us chaps here on CP will have the opportunity to get into space for about the same price as a trip for the family to disney.

Skip2mylou · 10-04-2004, 01:34 PM

I wonder if the costs of such a project did'nt exceed the prize money awarded, although I'm sure they did'nt do it for the immediate prize money.

In my opinion the most simple design won, I would have been much more impressed if it were a single plane design. Don't get me wrong though this is indeed another significant step to make commercial space flight a reality.

BlackArcher101 · 10-04-2004, 01:40 PM

I'm not happy that Rutan was the one that won it. Look at all the money he had thrown at him, and this kind of stuff is his cup of tea. I would have liked to see a team that started from the ground up win it, with a much lower budget than he had. One of the reasons for the x-prize was to promote CHEAP space travel.

Skiptmylou... that wasn't the most simple design.

Five-hole · 10-04-2004, 01:51 PM

Now that research is essentially corporate funded, I think once commercial space flight becomes a reality we could see a lot of innovation in that area -- as opposed to now, where it's done by "crown" corporations.

Skip2mylou · 10-04-2004, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BlackArcher101@Oct 4 2004, 07:40 PM
I'm not happy that Rutan was the one that won it. Look at all the money he had thrown at him, and this kind of stuff is his cup of tea. I would have liked to see a team that started from the ground up win it, with a much lower budget than he had. One of the reasons for the x-prize was to promote CHEAP space travel.

Skiptmylou... that wasn't the most simple design.

Yeah your right but I mean there is nothing really groundbreaking about strapping a rocket to a plane then launching it at a high altidude.

ChipOne · 10-04-2004, 02:00 PM

to answer your question skip, the prize money did not exceed production costs. mr. allen put in more than $20M USD, the prize was $10M USD.

i'm not terribly upset with Rutan winning. even if you consider that they were planning on winning that $10M and budgeted the project off a $30M base, consider that no government has ever put together a similar project (nor do i believe they could) for that kind of money. there is something to be said about a bunch of people working together to pull off an amazing feat. when the whole group pulls together, and mind you, with some solid backing, you can really pull off some amazing feats.

with the announcement that virgin signed on to form Virgin Galactic, it's only a matter of time before every billionaire realizes that with a few million dollars they can get in on the very lucrative business of space tourism.

on a side note, would any of you go? i'd be there in a heartbeat.

after establishing a fleet the next phase, according to the developers, is that they're going to build a docking station and lodge out there. go spend a week in space. damn straight i'm there.

Sylvanfan · 10-04-2004, 02:30 PM

The concept of going into space is really very intriguing, but drinking Tang out of a tube of toothpaste for a week doesn't exactly appeal to me. :P Still the rush of the trip into space would be something else. I could maybe be suckered into a one day type of trip just for the experience, but I can't say I'd want to be in a dark barron cold surrounding for any period longer than 24 hours. I guess I should start throwing $50 every pay cheque into a trip to space fund.

Table 5 · 10-04-2004, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BlackArcher101@Oct 4 2004, 02:40 PM
I'm not happy that Rutan was the one that won it. Look at all the money he had thrown at him, and this kind of stuff is his cup of tea. I would have liked to see a team that started from the ground up win it, with a much lower budget than he had. One of the reasons for the x-prize was to promote CHEAP space travel.

Skiptmylou... that wasn't the most simple design.

Burt Rutan is a genius in his field ( he is the man who built the plane that went around the world on one fuel load ), so its no surprise he was the one to pull it off. Yes the guy had access to money, but his goal was always to make his plane as simple as possible, and he is of strong belief that a trip to space should be achieved through " stick and rudder " rather than computers....

For those interesting, there is a pretty interesting article about Burt Rutan in the current edition of the New Yorker.....